Random Food Questions Thread - Page 39

It's easier if you cut in half as mat describes... tip of knife in part of the stem you cut, it should come out. But Matt, you should remember that in most of the US, shallots are very very puny. You can end up wasting a good 20-30% by chucking the biggest layer because they're often so small. They're certainly much more easy to handle when they're a healthy size.

I cannot stand the miniature cloves of garlic you have to work with here.

how do you guys mince your garlic and shallots? i used to just smash and chop many many times, but after watching it on avec eric I find it easier to cut garlic and shallots like an onion especially if my knife is sharp. then i dont have to chop afterwards and i get much more even pieces

how do you guys mince your garlic and shallots? i used to just smash and chop many many times, but after watching it on avec eric I find it easier to cut garlic and shallots like an onion especially if my knife is sharp. then i dont have to chop afterwards and i get much more even pieces

After halving, a series of vertical slices, two or three horizontal cuts parallel to the cutting board without going through the root, and then chop. Basically the way Eric Ripert shows on Avec Eric. Sometimes with onions, instead of the traditional horizontal/vertical method, I will slice it in a fan pattern along the natural curvature of the onion.

how do you guys mince your garlic and shallots? i used to just smash and chop many many times, but after watching it on avec eric I find it easier to cut garlic and shallots like an onion especially if my knife is sharp. then i dont have to chop afterwards and i get much more even pieces

^like i said it gives even sized pieces and it doesnt take too long. how is pre-peeled garlic even made? there's no monkey sitting somewhere peeling garlics is there? is there some kind of machine? some kind of chemical bath?

I guess with garlic I'm generally not looking for even sized dice. Again, I've never seen this done as a standard method for cutting garlic, only for odd times when you need dice.

i used to do the "onion" method with garlic, but i never found it made a difference. so i smash and mince. shallots and onions, i do find making the horizontal cuts before the vertical cuts seems to hold together better, but ymmv